Same here, I meet people because I'm out in the yard. Most of my nearest neighbors are also putterers, and sometimes a group of three or four of us will be standing at the foot of one's driveway, that one usually leaning on a rake or shovel. One day the sheriff drove by and asked if I'd noticed some youths go by on a bike--but I'd been busy digging and hadn't looked up for a while. I am out there, but sometimes you have to make a noise or walk over to get my attention if I'm focused on the project at hand.

This is my disease speaking: I'm going to redo several beds next year, now that I've figured out the dynamic of the soil in this yard and the best way to keep the most things looking good (plant xeriscape wherever possible and keep the moist and tender bits near the house where the soaker hose along the foundation will water them). Never plant box-like hedges around the house. Plants don't need to be architectural, I want them to look like they're supposed to look like. But I will put a few native hibiscus there because they'll grow bigger and gaudier with the extra water. And we can all use a few big bright stunners out in the front of the house.

A wonderful surprise this year--I originally had a couple of pots of spineless prickly pear cactus given me by friends that needed planting. I put them in one spot where the datura usually grows, next to a new yucca, but the datura didn't come back. The cactus was not thriving, so a couple of months later I made a sandy bed and moved them and now they're happy. Meanwhile, all of that digging stirred up the datura and we had a bumper crop after all. A few weeks ago we had our first frost, and upon examination of the spot I noticed two nice little spineless prickly pear pads that had come up under the datura. And several small yucca plants. Good! I can move this stuff around and make more desert beds next year. . .

SRS

P.S. My dogs just came in from a run in the yard. It's so cold they're staying in now, but Cinnamon (the pitbull) has a distinct scent of rosemary--she loves to go plow through my big plant in the back yard.